■ New Zealand
Dolphin knocks woman out
A dolphin leaped out of the sea onto a pleasure boat off New Zealand yesterday, knocking a woman holidaymaker unconscious and putting her in hospital with critical head injuries, news reports said. After hitting the 27-year-old woman, the dolphin smashed the boat's glass windscreen, injuring another female passenger as the boat cruised near Slipper Island. Steve Taylor, of the local coastguard, told Radio New Zealand the woman was sitting on the bow of the boat when the dolphin landed on top of her. Experts said it was a freak accident and probably unprecedented for dolphins. The dolphin fell into the sea and swam off.
■ Japan
Dishonest architect jailed
An architect who caused a nationwide scandal by fabricating data about earthquake resistance in buildings was sentenced yesterday to five years in prison. Hidetsugu Aneha, 49, who outraged the quake-prone country by admitting he lied to save money on construction costs, admitted last year that he conspired with inspectors and construction firms.
■ Nepal
`Buddha Boy' returns
A teenage boy hailed as a reincarnation of the Buddha has reappeared after nine months of wandering through the jungles of eastern Nepal, police said yesterday. Ram Bahadur Bomjan, 16, had disappeared in March after he reportedly shunned food and water for almost 10 months while he meditated under a pipal tree in Bara near a holy site in Nepal revered by Hindus and Buddhists. Local officials however expressed skepticism on the fasting claims and said the boy was being used by supporters to fleece funds from villagers.
■ Japan
Woman jailed for loud music
A woman charged with inflicting injury on her neighbor by blasting rock music at her house for more than two years was given a 20-month prison term yesterday, a court official said. Miyoko Kawahara, 59, was sentenced by the Osaka High Court, revoking an initial ruling that had given her a one-year prison term, court spokesman Takanao Kawasaki said. The woman from Heguri, Nara Prefecture, was accused of causing insomnia and headaches to her next-door neighbor by playing loud dance music almost 24 hours a day on a portable stereo she had pointed at her neighbor's house, 6m away.
■ China
Hospital staff under attack
Doctors and nurses at a hospital in Shenzhen have donned combat gear after an incident in which angry relatives of a patient attacked hospital workers, state media reported yesterday. The Shanxia Hospital operated on a patient who suffered from bone fracture after a car accident early this month, but he died 17 days later of heart failure, the Beijing Times reported. The relatives of the patient were outraged at his sudden death and on several occasions mobilized many people to harass hospital staff by scuffling and yelling at them as well as burning paper offerings on the premises.
■ Pakistan
Bomb explodes near airport
A car bomb exploded near the entrance of the airport in Peshawar yesterday, killing one man and wounding two, police said. The explosion went off at 7:10am when the airport was crowded with hundreds of people for flights to and from the Middle East. Iftikhar Khan, a senior police officer, said the bomb was planted in a Suzuki car that was parked near the airport's main entrance and wounded three men, one of whom later died at a hospital. There was no word on how seriously the two other men were hurt. The blast shattered windows of several cars. There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
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